Are you experiencing muscle loss? I want to interview you!

I may be too old-am almost 73. I have been swimming for five years. I sure notice a lack of strength, balance and power, most of which has returned with training. I think, for me, it is imperative that I continue lifting if I want to swim well. I think that this is an interesting subject. Once I started I could tell the difference in my times and recovery.

I'm 68 now and not sure if I have, although all sources say you do lose muscle mass with age. I haven't been swimming seriously long enough to know, have never yet entered a swim race and have only been timing my training swims since January. All I can compare is running times and I have a long list of races showing decreasing times with age. I never liked weight lifting, consequently I rarely did any, however I have been a pushups guy since age 14 and have not noticed a reduced capacity doing pushups. I can still work up to a couple hundred a day if I wish.

Not sure how much this applies to older people and the sarcopenia of aging phenomenon, but this recent study is one of many that suggests it doesn't matter if you do high weights and fewer reps or low weights and higher reps--as long as you exercise to exhaustion, the strength gains are the same. jap.physiology.org/.../japplphysiol.00154.2016 Lots of people swear by weight lifting, but I wonder if in the pool swim workouts that feature enough to reach the point of failure will maximize strength of swimming specific muscles as well, if not much better, than dry land lifting? If the study referenced above is accurate, then it doesn't matter if you do USRPT "Rushall-style" sets of all out, as fast as possible, short distance bursts, or a set of best average 500s. As long as the practice session leaves you close to exhaustion, I am not sure if the actual muscles you use in the water are going to get that much stronger by supplemental dumb bell manipulations! Now, the same isn't true for the muscles that swimming doesn't use. If you want big biceps, by all means do curls. If there is any convincing research that proves drylands enhance swimming speed more than strenuous in the pool swim training, please provide the references from the literature!

I think you hit the nail on the head Jim! Weights for older Masters can add strength or maintain strength but may not make a difference in swimming fast or faster. Doing USRPT type training, and doing it properly, to failure (or neural fatigue), will give you all the strength you need.

Hi, my name is Gretchen Sanders, and I write for SWIMMER Magazine. I am working on an article about muscle loss in aging athletes for my next assignment, and I need some help finding sources. I would like to interview a few masters swimmers, male or female, who have noticed a decrease in their physical strength and are thus doing weight lifting/strength training exercises to supplement their swim workouts. Ideally you will be close to age 50 or older. I can interview you by phone at your convenience between now and August 10. I promise it won't take long! Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it. Email me at rex757@yahoo.com Gretchen I am 56 years old. I have Parkinson's and had an accident that caused a severe impartial spinal cord injury. But before the accident I was losing muscle mass in my legs.

While I'm not in the age range you specify, I can attest that muscle loss can happen very rapidly. I was on bed rest for a large portion of my pregnancy with my first child. The muscle loss that must have happened was a much bigger hit than expected. I struggled losing weight despite nursing, being active in daily activities, walking, and eating well and in retrospect I realize it was because I lost so much muscle from having to sit and do little else for months. Another child and five years later, I'm back down to pre-pregnancy weight but not nearly as strong and definitely have more fat. I've recently made a commitment to gaining some of that strength back. I had been thinking of chronicling my way back to doing pull-ups again with my Facebook friends but I've been slightly embarrassed to admit I can't even do one anymore. As a swimmer, I sorta feel like I should be able to do a solid set of push ups and a couple pull ups but I can't.

I couldn't tell because even when I was much younger I could never put on much muscle. Even if if trained in the pool for hours on a daily basis I looked skinny. I started working with weights but I still look like I hardly work out at all.:bitching:

I've recently made a commitment to gaining some of that strength back. I had been thinking of chronicling my way back to doing pull-ups again with my Facebook friends but I've been slightly embarrassed to admit I can't even do one anymore. Actually pullups are quite tough. Every time I take a break from doing pullups, I can't even do a single one either when I start doing them again. I usually start with negative pullups but within a short time I can dramatically increase the amount. I often use the Armstrong pullup program to get started.